Dragon Age II has a 3.4/10 on Metacritic, WHY!?

[Plazmatic]

DO NOT BUY DRAGON AGE II EVER.

If you dont believe me look at the sheer number of complaints and people who voted! You can read them as well, they are not just raging.

Honestly, you can have an opinion of a game, but you can't make other people hate it.

? then why even tell me this if I couldn't make people hate it in the first place?

any way that wasn't my point, my point is that it does indeed deserve the score, 400 people on metacritic is a lot especially in this short amount of time, there is obviously a problem with this game. These complaints are not unfounded.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

The only thing that should even matter, the ONLY question that EVER really matters when it comes to games is:

WAS IT FUN TO PLAY?!

Did you have FUN playing it? Obviously, or you wouldn't have forced yourself to sit down to 15 hours of it, let alone 15 MINUTES.

People get so pissy over games, complaining about all of these irrelevant things like how the characters look to how many different "footstep" sounds they used.

Is the game BROKEN? Did it crash every 15 minutes? Did the controls make it impossible to play? Were you stopped from actually playing the game? Did it feel like a 20 hour CHORE?

If you answered NO to any or all of those questions, then the game isn't BAD, it does not SUCK.. it just isn't YOUR particular cup of tea... except that it obviously was on some level because you still managed to play it to near completion (assumably) and then went so far as to write a review on it (for FREE, mind you).

I personally treat bad games like bad movies and bad food. I don't finish them. I don't try to choke it down, or make myself sit through them just to see how bad it gets. Why should I suffer?

A bad game gets an equal chance to keep me captivated. After that, back to the local game store with you, no excuses, no regrets.

 

[OptimisticPessimist]

Here's the thing. On it's own merits, DA2 is a good game. As a sequel to DA:O, not so much but still pretty strong. I think the problem most people (including myself) are having is born more of attachment to Origins than any actual dislike for DA2. I guess if one liked the first game enough big changes to a sequel are hard to swallow.

 

[Faladorian]

I haven't had the chance to pick up my preorder of Dragon Age II yet, I plan on getting it later today, but I did look up some reviews, and while critics seem to love it, it has a user score of 3.4 on Metacritic.

Now I'm worried, the Metacritic user score is 3.4, which is so bad it's usually reserved for one of two cases:

1.) They did something specific to cause rage that results in spams of unfairly biased reviews (such as Modern Warfare 2's drop of dedicated servers)

2.) Only a few people reviewed it so far, and of them is an ass.

Well, 178 people rated the game, so it's not #2, and they aren't complaining about a specific nerd rage or single facet that caused hate (don't jump down my throat about my comment on MW2, it was just an example, I know dedicated servers are important but the majority of Metacritic user reviews about them read as if the change from dedicated servers murdered their parents), they are making broad statements about it being linear and bland. This does not bode well.

Does anyone have any explanation for this? Is the game really just crappy? I know Metacritic has some quirks but please don't just post saying Metacritic has no grounding in reality, 200 people don't just wake up and say "hey guys! You know what would be funny? If we all collectively pretended this particular game was terrible!"

EDIT: I think I have an explanation, it's possible that the people who absolutely hated it were motivated to immediately get on Metacritic out of rage, and that the more mild mannered people who are busy playing it right now either haven't gotten around to rating it yet, or don't plan to (believe it or not that logical explanation was given to me by a Gamestop clerk of all people, I guess there is hope for the world yet)

Don't be too discouraged. I picked it up on release day. I'm a good 15 hours in and I'm still having fun. It all depends on how much of a chance you're willing to give it.

I miss Alistair, but other than that it's a cool game. I like it a lot.

Also, the combat is a lot more fun this time around. Not too sure why, but the game is just a lot more fluid than origins.

It seems more linear, yeah. The scenery hasn't changed too much so far but, knowing BioWare and the Dragon Age franchise, I'm probably not even remotely close to half way done with the game ;P

Side Note:I think part of the reason why people don't like DA2 is because Hawke isn't like Shepard, you're a normal fighter, who loses battles and has to work for what he wants. You're not superman, which is actually part of why I love it.

 

[Defense]

People probably don't like Dragon Age 2 because it was a step backwards in so many areas. Just look at the reviews, they're all complaints that the mechanics have been dumbed down from DA:O. You only get 3 options in dialogue, and they're all colored so Bioware can make sure that everyone knows what dialogue option is evil.

They're overreacting, but they had such standards because they liked Dragon Age that much.

 

[thisbymaster]

I played the demo and found myself rather bored quickly. The fighting was boring with maybe one ability, and the same enemy. This can be done right like god of war. But this just left me feeling empty, do I really want another fantasy game against some overwhelming force that has pathelic guys like the trash I had to beat up, again and again. If you are going to copy Wow's UI then go whole hog. Don't have us level up without telling us what the stats/abilities are and what they do. I never played da 1 and had no reason to care about the characters or the country getting invaded. But your mom's gigantic rack was comforting.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Can someone please explain the dumbing down just for once? And without confusing it with accessibility?

In DAO, the combat involves auto attacking, switching between different party members, setting different tactics for your non controlled party members, using skills and abilities, and pausing the game for delivering commands tactically.

In DA2, the combat involves auto attacking, switching between different party members, setting different tactics for your non controlled party members, using skills and abilities, and pausing the game for delivering commands tactically. Oh, but now there's no more friendly fire...except for Nightmare mode made exclusively for hardcore pro gamers who happen to be most of the people that talk down on the game for being dumbed down.

Dialogue has been dumbed down? Why? Just because you now know what each different response will actually do? And you won't invite your bisexual companion to bed by accident just because you gave him/her a compliment?

I can only give you my pov and I don?t have time to go into a lot of depth. I believe its more of a personal thing anyway. People have different definitions or values with over-simplification. For me it has nothing to do with accessibility. It started with KOTOR.

Smaller parties
Cant attack civilians
Cant flee combat
Unified inventories
Smaller areas
No death for party members
Limited day/night cycles
I don?t think it had point and click movement too. Cant blame consoles for that because Viva Pinata has it.
Ok so here is DA:O that is supposed to be the spiritual predecessor of BG. So did it address any of that? Nooooo it was far worse than KOTOR



Ok I think we gained one party member but then we get
auto healing
Level scaling that is worse than KOTOR?s
A ridiculous stat system that is even more hit point weighted than D&D
And less exploration
Gimped ranged weapons





One of the reasons why I believe DA:O was a terrible game is it didn?t benefit from simplification. Simplification can work. DA:O was worse for it. I?ll give one example of why. When you lose exploration and you lose party members and you have auto healing one way to keep the game at the magic 40 hours is with filler combat and DA:O was the clown prince of boring mindless filler combat. The Tower, the Fade, the Temple, and Deep Roads was the most boring stretch of western RPG ever made. It was like Bioware remade a sidescroller with KOTOR?s engine.

OK so one bad Bioware game. Nice track record. What do we get from DA 2?


Removed friendly fire except on nightmare
What?? I like using messed up parties. I roleplay I don?t powergame. I might bump it to hard but nightmare should be too hard for someone who likes to create their own challenge by using poor party combinations. The difficulty was fine in DA:O. It was one of the few things they got right. I don?t know much about DA 2. I like the way the story is told but removing friendly fire is major. Bombing your own tanks is a mindless strategy.

Oh and the lack of auto-attack. Thats insane. Its still a stat based game...Might as well give us Jade Empire 2. At least that was a real action game.

All of what I named might not matter to you for couple million other people but it starts to add up and it matters to enough people. That?s why the user reivews are what they are. Thats where the hate is coming from.

 

[kuyo]

Obviously, the bad reviews are from people who were disappointed by the lack of Tim Curry compared with the first one.

 

[freegirlgames]

I didn't like this because the ogre kept killing me and I couldn't reduce the difficultly, and I know plenty of other people who are farther that me and are also having a great time.

 

[kalquemex]

Really I dont think there are Trolls so much as people disapointed it isnt carbon copy Origins with more polish, from what ive seen its a B sequal to an A game

Its a good game on its own merits, since most of the reviews have been put out in less than 48 hours, and I doubt theres any1 that played for 30 hours straight, its just disappointed people

They should have saved makin a 2 for continuin the Wardens story and made it Dragon Age: Champion

 

[bismarck55]

I'm sure it's an alright game, but I loathe it already. It will be the first Bioware game I will not buy since I began playing games in '98, thanks almost entirely to the wonders of Baldur's gate.

It's about Philosophy, People who like classical RPGs (like me) dislike Bioware basically turning their back on classical RPGs by streamlining what was supposed to be a triumphant return to the style of game that put Bioware on the map (Remember MDK2? Not many do).

Like it or not games are not necessarily judged in a vacuum devoid of all social context, nor should they if you were to ask me.

 

[Nimcha]

I think most of it is the dreaded sequel syndrome, people become fans of the first game and when the sequel comes out so do the rose-tinted glasses.

And there's nothing worse than fans with nostalgia goggles. Also it seems weird to me how some people feel betrayed by BioWare. Does it ever occur to them that they don't make games for anyone specifically? They just make games. If you don't like what they make, don't buy it. But in stead those people do and then shove themselves into the victim role so they can rant with justification (in their eyes). It's a bit like TV fandom and it's very damaging.

Personally I'm enjoying DA2 immensely, just as much as the first game. Probably a bit more since the combat is less tedious for me. My friend who's a little more into classic RPG doesn't like the combat as much and prefers DOA. But he's still enjoying DA2 despite that.

 

[lucky_sharm]

snip

Fair enough. But about the auto attacking, are you playing the console version? Because even so you can still switch auto attack on.

 

[ZaxqZombie]

BOLLOCKS!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING??????????????

 

[ZaxqZombie]

Dragon age 2 you have broken my heart.... back to gamestop you go!

 

[Jack of Spades]

The problem most people have is that Dragon Age 2 could have been its own game with no connection at all to DA:O. BioWare scewed up by calling this a direct sequal to DA:O it should have been atleast a spin-off like on how Fallout:New Vegas was to Fallout 3.

 

[EvilestDeath]

* Overall story lacks direction
* Dungeon types repeat endlessly
* Combat is decidedly uneven


Read more: http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64227/Dragon-Age-II/review/#ixzz1GAeA5c70
It is not just metacritic. In truth, it is not getting very great reviews all around. Which is weird for a AAA title now a days. If you like the game and they don't like it then ignore them.

 

[Aethren]

At first, I was skeptical about the reviews, I couldn't believe they were wrong.

Then I played the game.

My god, I haven't seen such vitriol on a disk since I found an old dvd of Girls Gone Wild. This game is terrible. I'm not even going to bother talking about the streamlining, difficulty that wouldn't challenge a 6 yr old, or the horrendous level design. No, I'm going to refer to the merits of this game itself. It has none. There is no innovation here, no technique. They just copy-pasted crap from Mass Effect and gave it a cheap fantasy skin. I've had more fun playing Bejeweled than this excuse for a game. I am so thankful I didn't buy it, and instead rented, but even that was such a waste of money. I used to like Bioware, back in the KOTOR days, but this...They've lost their spirit as well.

Call me a troll if you want, take the easy route, since you'd clearly be the type this game appeals to. Me? I'm going to go play something actually enjoyable, like Dwarf Fortress.